And they were roommates
by Gaia707
Summary: I'm here to tell a love story. Not due to it's epicness, romanticness or whatever ness you may need. But because when one feel like one is in the middle of an epic-soul-mate-love-story, all one can do is register it for posterity. I'm Marlene McKinnon and the tragedy in hand is about James Potter and Lily Evans and how they managed to drive everyone crazy by simply falling in love.


Chapter 1 or: Those first encounters, arguments over calendars and romantic-comedy clichés

Chapter Text

It's not like I wanted to be part of someone's epic love story. Trust me, I would be lying if I said that it was the last thing on my mind when I moved to London to study. 'Cause the thought never even crossed my mind. Not once. Ever. It just sort of happened, like when you sneeze, happened.

One day, I was looking for apartments midtown and, on the other, I was laughing at two of my roommates bickering on the kitchen because of a calendar. I know, this sounds completely ordinary. And it would be, if it wasn't for the sexual-tension. Believe me, when I say sexual-tension, I mean sexual-tension. They were not just bickering like normal roommates, they were declaring their absolute and unconditional lust for each other behind all of the offenses, swearing and hand gestures.

But more on that later. First, I have to explain how James Potter and Lily Evans ended up living with together. More precisely, in the room right next to each other. Gotta love the irony.

(About the conditions and the subjects)

Lily Evans was 19. Young, stubborn and, to say the least, intense. The girl had fire-colored hair for a reason, there were flames in her head every second of the day. She was either stressed or anxious, when not both. She never measured words and always made sure that you listened to what she had to say, even if you really, really didn't want to. Still, she was sweet and needy and couldn't not fill the silence or leave an animal to die. Much like her name, her bedroom smelled like flowers and she couldn't spend a day without lighting a scented-candle to sweeten life.

And then there was James Potter. A total and complete twat, in the worst meaning of the word. If I could define him with a phrase, it would be with that one by Hemingway: "The mouth worried you until you knew him and then it worried you more". For he was 20, and that was the age of idiocracy, who can blame him? Well, me, all of his friends and mostly, Lily. Yet, he was funny, straight-forward and loyal, the annoying knight-style type. There was no friend who stayed without support if it was up to James. And it normally was.

How those two ended up in each other lives is easy: life happened. Both were young, wealthy and had the possibility of doing a semester abroad. She, biology, he, sports management. Soon, they were looking for an apartment close to the center of London and ended up finding the exact same place on the exact same dates. Blimey, talk about destiny.

James was the first to move in, he was eager to live his bachelor life, away from his parents and responsibilities. He got the biggest room; money wasn't a problem and he needed space for the parties and girls. Typical. The loft was small, but big enough to fit six other rooms, a medium-sized kitchen, three restrooms and a small living room with a broken TV.

Lily was last. But she managed to get the second-biggest room, which was a suite. If there was something she absolutely needed, was a bathroom for herself. She couldn't possibly share a toilet with six other people, it was already too much to even think about sharing plates and forks.

The six other people might not be as important for this story as me, but I'll introduce them either way, 'cause they were present in key moments and were equally affected and -possibly driven crazy- by the unroll of events. At that present moment, the flat was settled like this:

Room 1: JP, we already know him.

Room 2 - which is, ironically, right next to 1: Our girl Lily Evans.

Room 3: Severus Snape, the weirdest guy you'll ever know with the biggest nose you'll ever see. Also, I'm pretty sure he doesn't wash his hair. He's okay, though. Ordinary bloke.

Room 4: Remus Lupin. Not much to say, he's mysterious and barely leaves his room. For all I know, maybe he's the weirdest.

Room 5: Peter Pettigrew. He's one of those blokes that you just know that likes to cuddle. He's sweet and probably sleeps with a teddy bear.

Room 6: Alice Prewett. Energetic and lazy at the same time. She's always in a rush and hates waking up early. But who doesn't?

Room 7: A random irrelevant guy who, in two weeks, was going to be replaced by the most wonderful one of them all; me, Marlene McKinnon.

Everyone in their 20s and totally unaware of their involvement in this story.

(About first impressions)

Now, I wasn't there yet, so I don't know how exactly these events happened in details. But, committed as I am with this tale, I talked to every single member present so I could tell the most accurate version of what happened. And I'm a wonderful listener. You're welcome.

Lily Evans arrived on a cloudy Friday. I know, to say it was cloudy in London it's like saying the water is wet. However, the weather here is important for future events, so it was cloudy. All she wanted to do was arrive in her new home, unpack, take a long, hot shower and sleep like a newborn baby. She didn't want to talk to anyone, or smile, or worry about loud noises in the kitchen. It was still a weekday after all, and her new contract specifically said that there should be no noise after 11pm on weekdays. And if anything, contracts should be taken seriously, even the parts where it said there couldn't be visits without the landlord approval.

"Hello, I'm Lily. Please, could you… I'm…", she began to say, opening the kitchen door for the first time since she arrived, three hours prior. It took her all of her strength to get up of her bed after unpacking and showering. She only managed it because the constant screams, noises and loud music in her ears murdered any possibility of sleeping. Lily really didn't want to start her new relationships with her roommates with the left foot, but she was so tired .

"Oi, new girl!", a bloke screamed at her face as soon as she opened her mouth. "Want to go to a party? We're leaving in fifteen minutes!"

"Sorry, what?"

"A par-ty. Do you know how to speak English?", he answered, grinning. He had that annoyingly charming side-smile. That one that is only reserved for jerks and the devil.

"Of course I do! And I certainly don't want to go to a party. In fact, I'm here to tell you and your lot that I'm trying to sleep. The contract say that-"

But she couldn't finish, the boy was already laughing louder than the end of her sentence. His friends followed.

"I've never read that contract in my life", he said in a smirk. One of his friends tapped his back and it immediately occurred to her that they were all thicks. "Look, just go with us. Entrance and drinks on me. Don't be boring, let's have some fun, you can sleep later."

Lily didn't know if it was the fact that she was too tired -and therefore hallucinating-, the way he called her boring or the smirk on that idiot's face, that she answered:

"Fine, just let me change".

And so she did. A dark-green dress with those cheap long stockings that only served to hide the fact that you didn't shave your legs that day. If the colour was intentional or not, only Lily knows, but the dress made the green of her eyes pop and shine as bright as ever, contrasting with her fair skin and fire-red hair. She was, as the blokes like to say, hot - and very aware of the fact. After all, if she was going to this party, might as well have fun and meet some people. At the end of the day, Lily was one of those hopeless romantics and a very big part of her was expecting to find a winter love while being abroad. How perfectly cliche would that be?

She took a deep breath and ignored the fact that her legs were hurting and her back was sore. The tiredness would have to wait, for some reason, she felt the absolute need to prove to her new roommate that she was fun and knew how to enjoy life. Also, who knew who she would meet in this party. Maybe the perfect british guy she used to dream about as a kid, when watching fairy-tales.

"I'm ready", the girl said at last, after opening the kitchen door again. All eyes fell upon her and she finally noticed the people around the small folding table. The guy furthest from the door had black clothes, black hair and, as she would find out next, black in his name. He was handsome in the most obvious way, a James Dean, Marlon Brandon type of handsome. The rebel. His eyes screamed trouble and his one-sided smirk just confirmed it. He was not Lily's type, as he seemed too dangerous, too intense, dramatic even.

"Sirius Black", he introduced himself, noticing her stare. "Very nice to meet you, ma'am."

"Lily, is it?", the bloke next to him asked immediately after. She nodded as he added: "Mundungus Fletcher, but pretty lasses like you can call me Dung."

"Even that homeless bloke that lives on that box downtown calls you Dung, mate", the guy closest to Lily said, making everyone laugh, even Mundungus. "Hi, I'm Frank Longbottom."

"Hello", Lily answered, shaking his firm hand. Frank was tall and kind of chubby, his blond hair fell straight on his forehead and his eyes were kind, very different from Mundungus. Dung's very brown eyes were cunning and mischievous and they matched -in a very weird way- his ginger hair. He was the shortest of the lot and most definitely the trickster.

Then, she finally gave a proper look to the last guy on the room. Her roommate was leaning on the sink, looking at her with that insufferable smirk that looked like it was frozen in his face since the first time she saw it.

"Well?", he asked. "You're not going to ask who I am? We're going to live with each other, aren't we?"

Oh my god , she already hated him.

"Because you just can't introduce yourself like everyone else, can you?"

"Do I look like everyone else?", he asked and Lily took a while to realize that he was serious. He was really asking that, it wasn't a prank or joke. That was enough to hit her limit, she couldn't take him seriously anymore, so she acted accordingly and laughed out loud. Who this guy reckon he was? How could he even ask if he was different? He was exactly like all of his thick friends; cocky, young, reckless and absolutely hopeless.

She gave him a proper look, top to bottom. His excuse of a hair was a complete mess, totally pointless, and his eyes were hidden behind aviator glasses, which were obviously there as a terrible fashion statement, for it was the 80s and no one in their proper state of mind wore aviator glasses. His clothes were nothing special, he was dressing like every single young man dressed in their 20s, pretending like he just put the first thing he found in the closet, when everybody knows it was meticulously chosen to please young ladies.

"Yes. Yes, you absolutely do", Lily felt the need to inform him. Her comment caused choked snorts that she appreciated very much.

"Oh, a funny one, eh?" he grinned at his mates. "I'm James Potter. And you're Lily… Lily-what again?"

"Evans. I didn't say it. My last name, I mean."

"Brilliant. Let's have some fun, Lily Evans."

(About disastrous first dates)

"Hey, hey, hey", James protested, closely watching Lily putting another cup on the beer-pong table. "I saw that. That's called cheating, new girl, it's against the rules, you know?"

"Cry me a river, why don't you, James?", she said with a big frown on her face. She absolutely hated losing; in arguments, sports and particularly in dumb drinking games with even dumber guys.

He stood shocked for a minute, but then laughed and kept playing like nothing happened. This Lily Evans lady took him completely by surprise. When he invited her to the party, he would never expected her to accept, even more so to actually go with them and be fun . Yes, she was bloody annoying while cheating or while talking very loudly and fast with that even more annoying irish accent. Yet, there she was, categorically cute with that frown.

And that dress? Blimey, she was hot in it.

"Are you losing, mate? 'Can't believe this! Oi, Frank, come see Prongs lose in beer pong!", Sirius was grinning from ear to ear. What a prick.

"That's preposterous. I'm not losing, she's cheating! Look at her, can't even keep a straight face, can she?" She truly couldn't, her face was matching her hair, red as fire and her mouth was wide open in a big smile. To be fair, she was a bit drunk and James being mocked by his friends was the peak of her night, she wouldn't stop smiling even if she could.

"Preposterous!", she repeated, laughing. "Who are you trying to be fancy for?"

"Unlike you, I know proper English. You oughta know it, it's the language we speak here in Britain."

"Oh, get lost!" Lily scolded, trying to hide an intrusive smile. "And what bloody hell is a Prongs ?" She was staring Sirius now, who just shrugged his shoulders with the most amused expression one could possibly have.

"Nicknames, new girl, heard of those?" James answered instead, purposely driving her attention back to him.

"Stop calling me that. My name is Lily. Li-ly", in her defense, she was too drunk to think about a proper comeback and her accent was stronger than ever.

"Bless you", he saluted, to her most utter disgust. How could someone be so annoying?

"No, mate! She's right, we need to give her a nickname!" Sirius finally made himself present, still observing the whole scene with a huge smile on his face. He was loving every second of it.

"Lilypad? Flower?"

"Rose? Red? Irish sunflower!"

"Freckles?"

"She doesn't have freckles."

"What? But she's a redhea-"

"Red?!"

"You said that already."

"Did I? What about-"

Lily finally came off it and managed to rescue the very last piece of the dignity she still had. She wasn't going to let these thick boys go on and about over her name.

"Oi! My name is Lily and I'll be called that!", that sounded better than how she was actually feeling. Her head was spinning and she couldn't tell if she was talking to James or Sirius anymore.

"Whatever you say, Fris ", James smirked and Lily tried to walk towards him and failed. Who had the brilliant idea to put on high heels? It's not like she wasn't already tall without them. The floor looked closer than usual while she tried very hard to think about sharp words to answer the James bloke. He had to know that she wasn't one of those girls that he was used to mess with.

"She doesn't look well, maybe you should take her home, James", Sirius was already walking backwards, he was the type that knew exactly what should be done in every situation, but never wanted to do it.

"I probably should, shouldn't I?"

"Yep", two more steps back.

"I'll be a total prick if I don't, won't I?"

"Right again", three more.

"I'll see you later, then" James said to nobody, as Sirius was already in the bar, getting even more drinks. "Let's go, new girl, you're already done for tonight. Can't take a couple of drinks, can you?"

Lily didn't answer, she was too concentrated in standing still to begin with. Even with the lack of light, her vision blurred and a headache she wouldn't wish for her worst enemy, she finally saw James's eyes. She couldn't tell if they were close or far away, but if someone asked her, right then, to draw them, she would ace it. They were a shade of brown she never saw before, like honey and caramel combined, and shined with a roguish brightness, inside of a masculine and rough shape.

"… Honey", she let it slip, suddenly very aware of the warm hands holding her. When did that happen?

"Already on the pet names, are we, darling? Don't worry, treasure, we're almost home", James couldn't possibly be having more fun provoking this girl. He was very aware she was drunk and talking no-senses, but still.

"Shut it! And let me go", but he didn't.

Remember when I said the weather would be important?

"Brilliant, it's raining. Come here, tipsy."

James later told me it wasn't his desire to get even closer to her and that he was just being a gentleman. However, I'm no fool and I've known him long enough now to say this: James pushed Lily closer to him, wanting very much to do so since the first time he saw her.

They were now below a tiny awning of a closed clothing shop while a heavy rain poured merciless.

"I bet you were waiting for this moment" Lily said, sobering up as the cold wind hit her wet bare spine.

"Which moment? When it starts to pour and I get soaking wet ? Or when I have to wait in the cold with your lovely company?", he snorted and attempted to dry his glasses with his equally wet sleeve.

"The one with the two of us alone", she clarified, raising her eyebrows. "I noticed the way you look at me. You fancy me."

He turned his head and finally put his glasses on, only to give her the best expression of mockery he could.

" Oh . She knows she's hot, cheers."

Lily did something she quickly learned she would do a lot with James Potter: Rolled her eyes.

"Is this how you normally make girls like you or I'm just privileged?"

But James only blinked, suddenly indifferent.

"No, I meant you're right. You're hot and I would like to snog you. Should we give it a go now or later?"

One more time, he had hit her limit quite easily, so she laughed, overpowering all of her pride. However, she knew she couldn't keep showing him weakness like this or he would abuse it.

"Which girl could resist a rainy scenery?" Lily played along and that lasted a solid second, as she noticed the seriousness in James's face. "Wait, no… James, I was messing around! I thought you didn't… I mean… I'm so sorry, but you're not my type in the slightest! I like tall, blond and built guys and you… Well, I'm sorry, but you're not tall or blond or-"

"I got it", he finally let her go, she didn't even noticed that his hand was on hers all along.

"-built. We just met and we're both still a bit drunk and we're roommates! Can't we just be mates?"

"Oh no, no, no, no . I don't have girl mates."

"And what's that supposed to mean?", Lily regretted asking as soon as the words came out of her mouth.

"It means, Fris, that I can't be friends with people I find attractive. It's quite simple, really: You're hot. You're a lady. Can't be friends with you."

Lily was sure she was absolutely sober right now. No drunkenness could ever come up with that level of absurdity.

"That's the most utterly disgusting thing I have ever-"

"Let's go, the rain stopped. I want to go back to the party after dropping you off."

Bloody idiots.

(About that kitchen bickering episode)

We finally got to the part where your dear narrator finally shows her pretty face. I introduce you, ladies and gentleman: Marlene McKinnon, a 23 year old who moved to London to improve her academic career with a masters degree. Yikes, I know. Also, I'm sorry to say that, as of right now, I don't have any interesting romantic subplot. As previously stated, I'm just a bloke who has a binding cosmic responsibility to tell this tale.

First things first. I arrived at the loft in a quiet afternoon. Since I'm not the main character of a love story, my first night wasn't full of cool random fellas, unexpected parties and rainy declarations. No, like an ordinary person, I spent my first week doing errands and buying stuff for my cat Nolwim, the poor bastard was probably more tired than me.

How do they allowed a cat in a 7 people flat, you may ask? The landlord is batshit crazy, that's how. However, this is not important.

After settling down, I was ready to actually meet my roommates, I mean, talk properly to them and know more than theirs names and occupation in London. The hanging out room in our flat was the kitchen, not only because we love food, but 'cause we're lazy and the kitchen was closer to the bedrooms than the actual living room. Besides, our TV was broken and the sofa was ridiculously small.

I was cooking supper while James was sitting oddly quietly by the table, immerse in his own world with his notebook and headphones. He was watching some Premier League match or whatever, I don't know -or care- much about football, except maybe David Beckham's face.

He was uncharacteristically serious and concentrated, just protesting accordingly to the game now and then. Until Lily came in, that is.

One may say I'm exaggerating, but you would reckon the same if it was on tape. Potter's face lit up. The silence remained, while the biggest smirk appeared on his face and one side of the headphone was moved slightly so he could hear the exterior.

After saying hi to me and me only, Lily used a tape to stick a paper on the fridge.

"What's that?" I asked, fully aware that James was listening to everything now.

"A calendar. I reckon we should start doing stuff together, don't you think? We're in seven and we'll be living with each other for awhile, might as well. Check it out, I already included your birthday!" She pointed at a square with her well done nails.

On the 17 th of October, it was written "Marlene's bday!", in a cursive cute letter. On the 18 th , she added a "Party?" and on the 19 th : "Cleaning day!" like that would ever happen.

"Aw, thanks Lily! That's very sweet of-"

But I stopped to stare at James, who's laughter abruptly dominated the whole room.

"-you. What's so funny?", I asked him, thinking innocently - and maybe for the last time - that he was just watching a funny video.

"Can you add my birthday too, Fris? It's in two weeks."

He was looking at me, though, with an expression that stated very clearly: Don't you dare tell her. At first, I didn't get it. But as soon as she finished writing it down, he added and I understood:

"And Remus's birthday it's on Halloween."

She turned to him with a skeptical expression.

"Remus!" Lily's voiced echoed through the flat in a very loud and screechy tone. I swear that even after only a week there, I could already recognize her voice from miles away. "Remus!"

"He's not here, but go ahead, wake the whole block up."

James got on his feet and grabbed the pen off her hands. I was already laughing at the writings, when Alice showed up.

"What's happening?", she had chips on her hands and bags under her eyes, indicating a very poor night of sleep. Alice was still cute though, with her blond hair in a pixie cut that I couldn't pull it off in a million years.

"Lily gave us a calendar . Come, Alice, write your birthday in", he gave her the pen as she laughed at the sight of the paper.

Lily was trying to keep it straight while reading the recent additions, but failing miserably. She was already laughing out loud, when Alice started putting her birthday in three different dates.

"What's supposed to be written here?' Lily finally asked, pointing to a scribble on the 31 st .

James looked at her with the biggest smile, he was clearly waiting for this question.

"It says Lily Evans. It's the Halloween day, I reckon it should had a scary monster on it.'

"Ha ha, very funny", she said ironically, yet we were all laughing and I'm pretty sure she would too if wasn't for her pride.

When Alice sat at the table with a can of Coke, I finally got the chance to read the paper properly. According to James, everybody's birthday was on October and we would party every Wednesday and Sunday. There was stuff like "collective washing hair day", "knitting classes" and "Remus's shopping spree for undies".

"That's all very funny, James, but now no one will take my actual birthday seriously." I was obviously joking around, but Lily took the opportunity to scold him:

"Exactly, you completely ruined a perfectly good idea, prick."

"Sorry, I didn't understand you. You start talking in your language when you're mad."

"Let me clarify it for you, then: I said you are a prick!", I didn't think it was possible, but she raised her voice even more.

"Oi, manners, Fris, we don't want Marlene here to think we were raised in a barn." James looked at me with an amused look that showed mischief in every single line of his face.

"Considering that no one washes their dishes in this house and this kitchen is constantly utterly disgusting, I would say she's right!"

Did I already mention the sexual tension post-rain-scene? Let's paint the picture, shall we?

On one side, there was a very annoyed attractive female with red on her skin and hair. She liked romance, the cliché type - prince charmings and all the chivalrousness, settledness and orderly stuff that came with them. Still, there she was, looking at this arrogant boy -who didn't have a orderly bone in his body- like he hit every nerve of her skin. Like he was mixing her insides in every way possible, changing everything she knew to be certain, like he was the only thing that she could possibly be thinking about in that moment, 'cause everything else seems small in comparison.

Opposite to her was this very amused attractive male with black on his hair and on his sense of humour. He despised romance, didn't like drama, arguments or those so-called feelings. Yet, there he was, delighting himself with this girl's anger, observing the green in her eyes like they were the most precious stolen emeralds of all of the seven seas and trying to figure out what the bloody hell his guts were trying to tell him.

"What's that have to do with anything? I was talking about manners, Fris, keep up with the conversation, will you?"

"Here it is, again! Fris? What the bloody hell is Fris ?"

"Oh, you would like to know that, wouldn't you?"

Lily threw her hands in the air as if she was asking for help to a superior being, the Earth just couldn't provide her with anything anymore. She could only think that he always answered the most annoying thing every single time, how he could possibly know how to hit her nerve so well?

"Git!" Was the only way she could think of expressing her inner feelings.

"Cheers." He answered, proving her point once more.

And here it is. The precise moment when he gave his last smirk and she rolled her eyes, for what it was probably the millionth time that day, that I noticed. I was not living my life, I was inside theirs. For no fiction could ever invent that level of compatibility, repression and destiny. I looked at Alice across the table and she raised her eyebrows telling me: I know, I feel the same. Which was invisible, totally isolated from those two. Like just a part of a story that was bigger than both of us.

In that moment, I realized two things: One, I had to tell this story. Two, it's not always that you meet soul mates in the being, I had to help those poor souls to figure out what I just did. Little did I know that denial is way stronger than love.


End file.
